Loving You
by Lia Jane
Summary: Two friends embark on a cross country road trip after their high school graduation. What they find along the way might surprise them. Slash. Emmett/Jasper.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Welcome to my first ever slash story! I'd be totally lying if I said I wasn't scared to death of posting this but I always wanted to write a slash story so I thought, "What the heck?"**

**Anyway, there will be some angsty parts but this is mostly about finding themselves, making revelations about their lives, and most importantly, learning to not take each other for granted.**

**Most of the story will be in Emmett POV but there will be some Jasper POV. If you guys would like to see anything in anyone else's POV as the story progresses, please do not hesitate to let me know and I'll do the very best I can to work that out for you.**

**Let's meet Emmett now, shall we?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. We all know who does. I just like to play with them…I think we all like to play with them. **

**EmPOV:**

So, the name's Emmett Cullen. I'm 18 years old, just graduated high school and going off to college in the fall. USC baby!

You could say I'm pretty excited about it. Or you could say I'm fucking stoked…either way, you would be correct.

I've lived in Forks, Washington my entire life. I was born here, grew up here, but I damn sure wasn't going to die here. I mean, come on, I do have standards. Who'd want to remain in this shit hole if they had a choice?

Not this guy.

I wanted somewhere warm, somewhere so far away that I couldn't be expected to make regular trips home. Not that I didn't love my parents and my adorably annoying little sister, Alice, but I was ready to be on my own…I needed time to think; figure some shit out. My life, for starters.

The only problem with my well thought out plan was the fact that my best friend in the entire world, Jasper Whitlock, was going to school in fucking Massachusetts. That was all the way across the country from me. I'd been livid when he first told me he'd been accepted to Cambridge and was considering going. My thinking was he'd already been accepted to USC. We'd made plans and here he was, ditching me to move thousands of miles away for the next four years, at the least.

After I'd gotten my shit under control, I found myself feeling kind of proud of him. Cambridge was a big deal and Jasper – he was a smart guy. He deserved this and I wasn't about to be a shitty friend just because I was feeling slighted. Fuck that.

Needless to say, after as much of an apology as I could muster – being one who rarely took anything seriously – we got over our little chick fight and went about our senior year.

One consolation of losing my best friend for the next few years: Our road trip. We'd planned this six week-long excursion over a year ago, taking little jobs here and there to save money for it. We were hitting all of the major cities between here and Miami, well all of the ones we were interested in anyway. Jasper decided it would be a great idea to stay in Miami for a week before getting back on the road. I didn't necessarily disagree with the fact that we'd need a break before making the long drive back but I was kind of hoping for relaxation. Miami didn't scream relaxation to me, but whatever. I was just along for the ride.

"Dude, what the fuck did you put in here?" Jasper panted as he attempted to drag my suitcase from the porch to the trunk of the car.

I couldn't help but laugh. Jasper was such a scrawny little spit fuck. And he complained as much as a woman.

"Put some elbow grease in to it, pussy," I scoffed; slapping him hard on the back and making him lose his grip on the handle.

"Fuck you, asshole!" He shoved me…and pretty hard, mind you. It only served to make me laugh harder though. I couldn't help it. He was getting all bent out of shape and shit. It was adorable.

Did I just refer to him as "adorable"?

Yeah…totally kidding about the whole…well, you know.

Moving on.

"Come on quit being a bitch. Here, I'll help you," I said in my best placating tone.

"Thanks," he huffed; watching me as I effortlessly lifted the suitcase from the ground and tossed it in to the trunk.

I smiled triumphantly at him earning me the middle finger to which I laughed some more.

Lunging forward, I caught Jasper around the neck and ruffled his hair. He hated it when I did that. I mean _really _hated it.

"Fucker," he mumbled against my side, punching and pushing me to get off of him. Finally all of his squirming got him loose and just in time for my wonderful mother to make an appearance with a cooler full of what I hoped would be food.

"Cut it out you two," she scolded in that Esme Cullen motherly tone. "And if I hear a curse word coming from either one of your mouths again, I'll bend you over my knee. Don't make the mistake of thinking you're too old for that, Emmett." She gave me that stern look for all of three seconds before the sad smile returned to her face.

Mom wasn't thrilled with the fact that I would be going to college in California. She was even less thrilled with the fact that I would be spending the majority of my last summer before going off to college away from her. She's a rather clingy lady and I don't like to brag but I'm fairly certain I'm her favorite. She'd never admit to that, but I have it on good authority and that will just have to be enough proof for now.

"Mom, don't be sad," I told her, pulling her in for a nice big Emmett Bear Hug. "I'll be home before you even realize I'm gone."

"Doubtful," Jasper scoffed and I shot him a look over Mom's head. He chuckled and put both hands up, palms facing forward. If he thought that was an effective peace-making gesture, he seriously underestimates my capacity for holding a grudge. I'd have to work on payback later.

"I'm just going to miss you, honey," Mom said sadly, pulling back to look at me. She placed her hands on either side of my face, kind of cradling my head. I leaned in to one of her hands and sighed.

"I know, Mom." I kissed her palm and pulled her hands down in to mine. "Whatever will you do without me?" I teased her in mock seriousness. A smile slowly spread across her face causing me to smile in return. My mother had one of those contagious smiles. It would light up her entire face and you just couldn't help yourself, you had to smile too.

She playfully slapped my chest and then rose up on her tip toes to give me a quick kiss on the cheek.

"I love you, Emmett," she said, still smiling.

"I love you too, Mom."

"Me too, Mom," Jasper cut in, shoving me out of the way and wrapping his arms around my mother.

Jasper had pretty much been a part of our family since we were 6. His dad passed away when he was 3, leaving him and his mom to fend for themselves. Unfortunately, Jasper's mom just sort of gave up. She worked 2 jobs but she also engaged in a lot of destructive behavior leaving Jasper alone about 95% of the time.

The first time I ever met Jasper was on the playground at the end of my neighborhood. He'd looked confused and a little scared. My mom, being the amazing lady she is, soothed him, fed him, and took him home. She'd tried to reason with Jasper's mom but the woman was a Grade A psycho…or at least that was my first impression of her. Trust me, it didn't get much better over the next few years but a small part of me always felt sorry for her. When Jasper was 9, the state finally stepped in and placed Jasper with his Aunt Lilith who just happened to live a few doors down from me and just happened to be one of my mother's gardening buddies.

Pretty much from that moment on, Jasper and I were inseparable.

I smiled to myself thinking of all the shenanigans we'd pulled over the years. I'd never seen my mom as angry as when we drove the golf cart through her Azalea's. Who knew flowers were that damn important? We didn't. It didn't make it easier to make sound judgments when we were high either…just throwing that out there.

Alice and my dad, Dr. Carlisle Cullen, emerged from the house just in time to see us off. Alice muttered something about not being stupid and then hugged me tightly. As far as sisters go, Alice is pretty great. I mean she annoys the ever loving shit out of me most of the time but she's also a pretty cool chick.

My dad shook my hand but then opted for a hug, pulling me in and squeezing me pretty hard. Awe, the poor guy was getting emotional.

"Here," he said after the hug had ended and he'd cleared his throat. I looked down to see a credit card in his hand. "I know you guys have money from your jobs and graduation but I want you both to have a good time. This may be the only chance you get to do something like this, so make it count." He placed the card in my hand and then looked me in the eye. "Do _not _lose that."

I nodded and smiled widely at my father. He was a great man and I hoped to be half as good as he was someday.

"Thanks, Dad."

He returned my smile and then put his arm around my mother's waist, who consequently was crying…again.

Jasper gave Alice and my Dad a hug, promising to keep me in line – like he'd ever be able to control me, but it eased my parents' worry just a little so I decided to let them stay in that delusional state.

As we climbed in to the car, I began to get a little anxious. I had the feeling that something big was going to happen. Like something life-altering big and I wasn't sure if I should feel excited or terrified. I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

**A/N: I hope you all enjoyed the first installment of this story. **

**Did you catch the subtle hint that Emmett's a little lost in his life right now? Hmmm…I wonder what that's about. **

**I don't currently have a posting schedule for this but I'm going to try to get at least one update a week in, maybe more…we'll see.**

**Please let me know what you think. As an author, I cannot tell you how amazing it feels to be able to interact with the readers. I love to know your thoughts, predictions, etc. I'll do my best to respond in a timely manner. **

**Thanks again for reading! You all make my heart smile.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: What did we all think about Emmett? I kinda like this Emmett. He makes me smile.**

**So this time around, we're meeting Jasper. I'm super excited to let you all in his head. He's a pretty cool guy.**

**I know the last chapter was short and this one will be too but they'll get longer as we get more and more in to the story. Right now we're just going through the introductions to get a sense of what the boys are like. **

**Lots and lots of love and thank yous to those of you who have reviewed and/or put this story on alert. I haven't even met any of you but I think I'm in love with you…*blush***

**Disclaimer: Neither of these boys, nor any of the other characters, belong to me. We all know who does own them. No copyright infringement intended.**

**JPOV:**

Emmett was starting to piss me off. We'd only been on the road for all of 5 minutes and he was already being _extremely_ annoying.

We were arguing about whether or not we should go ahead and turn the GPS on. I didn't think there was any reason to just yet. Emmett disagreed.

"Would you just listen to me, Jasper?" he whined.

Yes, _whined_. I couldn't help the eye roll that followed.

"Em, we're not even out of the fucking subdivision yet," I said trying my damndest not to lose my temper. "Just chill, ok? I'll let you know when I need your help."

"Oh, so you have a built in GPS?" He was mocking me. Fucking prick.

"No, I don't but I've lived in Forks as long as you have, dumb ass. I think I know how to get to the highway."

"Fuck you douche," he returned and punched me in the arm. I glared at him and he glared at me.

Then, he laughed. Asshole. He could never be serious about anything. Ever. Then again it was a stupid argument to begin with and for some reason I couldn't stay mad at Emmett for long. That was really inconvenient sometimes.

Emmett Cullen and his wonderful family were like my family. I'd met Emmett and his mom when I was 6. One Saturday morning I'd woken up to an empty house. I couldn't find my mother anywhere and I was scared. After checking every room in the house another 2 or 3 tImes, I suddenly remembered her always going to Aunt Lilith's house asking for money so I figured she might be there. Having no other form of transportation, I decided to walk. I'd been walking for almost 2 hours when I finally reached my Aunt's house. I still don't know how I knew how to get there.

Of course, my Aunt wasn't home so I sat and waited on her for a little bit but she didn't show up. Thinking that by then my mother might be home, I headed in what I thought was the direction of home. Instead, I ended up walking the opposite direction, as I later found out. Emmet and his mom were kind enough to help me out. They took me back to their house where Esme cleaned me up and made me something to eat. She tried to call my mother but there was no answer. I begged her to just take me home. I admit I was kind of scared of how my mother would react to me being gone. I guess a good mother would've been worried. Mine wasn't.

I listened through my bedroom door as Esme explained the situation only to have my mother slew a bunch of obscenities at her and kick her out of our house.

You're probably thinking, "What a bitch!" Am I right? Well, I like to think she wasn't always that way; that maybe at some point she loved me and took care of me. I find it easier to blame the death of my father for her behavior towards me instead of blaming myself. Or at least that's what the therapist Aunt Lilith made me see after I moved in with her drilled in to my head.

"Dude, you just missed the turn," Emmett laughed.

"Ah, shit!" I slammed my fist on the steering wheel as I made a U turn in the middle of the road. People could honk all they fucking wanted to. I didn't want to waste another second in this town. I was ready to see as much of the United States as we could fit in to this little vacation of ours.

I made my turn on to I-5 South and prepared for the next 10 hours on this road. We were spending the night in Medford, Oregon before going on to our first stop: Los Angeles. Emmett wanted to get acquainted with the town he'd be going to school in and I didn't have any objections seeing as how I'd wanted to see the city too.

"It's too fucking quiet in here," Emmett said after only a few minutes on the interstate.

Jesus, this was going to be a long trip…

"Turn on the radio or something."

He nodded and then leaned up to push the power button for the radio. The first song that came blasting through the speakers was some Taylor Swift song. Don't ask me how I knew that…

I'd forgotten my Aunt drove my car to the doctor the other day. I hadn't bothered turning the radio on since then. She must've forgotten to take her CD out of the player because this sure as fuck wasn't my music.

Emmett grinned at me, preparing to mercilessly tease me. I knew it was pointless but I had to try to explain myself anyway.

"It's not mine," I insisted. "Aunt Lilith drove my car last. She must've left her CD in here."

He just kept grinning at me but wouldn't say anything. It was driving me fucking crazy!

"Shut up! Just shut up, Emmett!" I'm aware it was irrational to tell him to shut up seeing as how he wasn't really saying anything but…well; I never claimed to be rational.

He started laughing then. Yeah, he was enjoying himself and I was blushing like a mother fucker. He could be such an ass sometimes.

As much as Emmett got to me, I really couldn't imagine my life without him. We'd literally grown up together. Talk about life-long friends, he'd been a part of every birthday, holiday, and special event since I was young. I'd never been that close to anyone else.

It was going to be really strange not riding to school with him every day or hanging out with him every weekend. Hell, it was going to be weird not living in the same state as Emmett. He's my best friend. If I'm being honest, he's also sort of my hero…

"Jasper!" Emmett's booming voice pulled me out of my thoughts.

"Fuck, Em, what? What do you want?"

"I've been trying to get your attention for like five minutes," he complained.

"There's no way it's been that long. Stop being a baby and just tell me what the hell you want." I looked at him with my "I'm not fucking around" face.

"I was just wondering what you wanted me to do with your Taylor Swift CD," he snickered and then started laughing when I punched him in the arm.

"It's not – Ah, hell, never mind." I decided it wasn't worth the effort.

"I'm just fucking with you, Jazz." He laughed again and then patted me on the shoulder.

After finding a decent radio station, we went silent, just listening to the music. It didn't take long for me to get lost in my thoughts again.

I didn't particularly want to go back to my former train of thought. It was fucking depressing. Sure, I'd had a hard time making the decision to go to Massachusetts but ultimately, I decided it was for the best. I even looked forward to our road trip as a way for us to have one_ amazing_ send off but now – sitting in this car with Emmett, making jokes, and having a great time – I found myself beginning to question it all.

I could easily switch everything to USC. I'd already been accepted and it was still really early in the summer. Then again, Cambridge University was my dream and everything was already set for that as well.

_What the hell should I do?_

The choice: Go with Emmett to USC where I'd get to keep our friendship exactly the same and get to live in one of the most interesting cities in the U.S…or go on my own to Cambridge and get the education and future opportunities I've always wanted.

…Yeah, this decision should be_ real_ easy to make.

**A/N: What is going on with Jasper? Lol! Poor boy…he's all kinds of confused. And how about the way he feels about Emmett? Hmmm…**

**What did you think about Jasper's mom?**

**Next chapter should be a bit longer and as long as FFn doesn't screw with the story again, we should be fine. I apologize to all who had put this story on alert before just to have that crap happen…I hope you'll all stick with me.**

**Thank you so very much for reading and if you feel so inclined, I'd love to hear from you! **


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